A Novel Approach (To Me)

Author: Lindon MacIntyre

Genre: Literary Fiction

I’ll be perfectly honest.  Of all the books I’ve read lately, this is one that I truly hesitated to open. My concern was the heavy subject matter–the sexual scandals of Catholic Priests.  When I read fiction I’m not interested in a lecture. Nor am I interested in reading an author’s political agenda–especially when thinly disguised as a novel. Rather, I’m looking for an escape. I’m looking for descriptions that move me and language that surprises me. I want a great story. After having read this novel, I can now admit that I was wrong to hesitate. There is no political agenda here.  Only a story that will surprise and engage you.

The narrator of this novel is Father Duncan MacAskill and it is his relationship with the Bishop that is referenced in the title. Father MacAskill is valued by the Bishop for his ability to clean up potentially scandalous situations with way-ward priests. As a result, he is shunned and even feared by the other priests who refer to him as the “Exorcist” behind his back. Increasingly, Duncan finds it difficult to balance his duty to the Bishop and the church, with the work he must do to protect them–including cleaning up loose ends with the victims, whom the Bishop coldly refuses to acknowlege:

“Victim, for God’s sake. Don’t make me sick. … They’ll get over it. … We can’t let a bunch of misfits and complainers undermine the Sacraments.”

As a new and potentially very damaging scandal quickly approaches, the Bishop sends Father MacAskill away–primarily to hide him from the media because he knows too much about the priest in question.  MacAskill is assigned to a remote parish in Creignish, Cape Breton very near to where he grew up.  It is his arrival at the parish that brings the narrator to a spiritual crossroad. This is not the first time he’s been sent away by the Bishop as the result of a potential scandal. A secondary story about his first exile, told through exerpts from his journals and filled with his own guilt, is revealed bit by bit. It is the narrator’s internal struggle that truly begins to drives this story forward. As MacAskill spirals downward into depression and alcohol, the edges of his conviction begin to blur and the story of the real man behind the cloth emerges. In true Canadian fashion, strong themes of isolation, confession and contrition weave the fabric of this story.

Some will certainly find the structure challenging as it moves back and forth between past and present. I found the time shifts to be distracting at times. Even so, the novel is well-written and does an excellent job drawing us into the character’s lives and the rich scenery of Cape Breton. That alone, makes this novel a worthy read.

Note: The Bishop’s Man is the winner of the 2009 Giller Prize for fiction. For more information on this novel or on Linden MacIntyre, you can visit his page on the Random House Canada website.

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